The Gladiator
by fancypants123
Summary: Percy Jackson is a slave. His family is dead, and he's forced to fight to the death in a colosseum for the entertainment of others. Annabeth Chase is a princess of the royal family, and is being forced into a marriage she doesn't want. What happens when she falls in love with this mysterious gladiator? Percabeth. AU.
1. Chapter 1

**Ok guys, first chapter of my re-write. Mostly the same as before, but with a few things added. Sorry it's been so long, but I've been caught up in piano and vacations and it's all been pretty crazy.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own PJO**

**Percy's POV**

The scorching hot sun blazed over my head as I pushed the plough through the hard earth. We'd had an unnaturally dry season, and the dirt was hard as rock.

Running the farm was a hard and gruelling job, especially for a seventeen year old. My father had gone off to war before I was born, to fight overseas against an evil warlord named Kronus, so I've never met him, and on days like today I couldn't help but wish there was another pair of hands to help me out. I've run the farm alone ever since he left. Not completely alone though; I lived with my mother, but I wouldn't let her work in the fields with me. There were smaller household chores for her to do, and I could manage the heavy lifting by myself.

My mother urged me to find a wife, but I did t have the time. The nearest city was a half day trip on horseback, and I only went a few times a month. I'd met girls there the times I'd gone, but I couldn't bring myself to leave my mother.

The plough struck a rock with a bone jarring thud. I paused for a moment to catch my breath, and ended up taking my shirt off. Sweat poured freely down my face, and glistened on my chest and arms. Prying the rock from the ground, I picked it up with a grunt. It was heavy, but I'd been lifting rocks like this my whole life, and I was used to it. I carried the rock to the edge of the field and dropped it, then went back to the plough.

A few years ago, when we still had plenty of horses, I'd finish the ploughing in a couple of hours and take a swim in the pond near the house. Nowadays the pond was dried up, and we'd had to sell most of the horses. We had one left. Blackjack. He was a beautiful horse, and could ride like the wind, but he wouldn't pull a plough for all the sugar in the world.

Putting my focus back on the plough, I went at it again, and was done in plenty of time to finish the other work. The rest of the day went by smoothly, and the sun was just starting to drop when I made my to the horse stables.

I filled Blackjack's trough with food, and then went to the well to get him some water. I heard the bucket scrape the bottom, and when I hauled it back up it was only half full. Dipping my hand into the water, I splashed some on my face. If it doesn't rain soon we're going to be in trouble, I thought as I took the water back to the horse.

I stroked Blackjack's nose, and he nuzzled me affectionately. This had been my dad's favourite place; he loved horses. That's why we had so many, but when he left everything started to go wrong, and they had to be sold.

When I was younger I used to dream that my father would come home one day, and everything would be alright, but then I found out the truth.

**Flashback**

The day I turned sixteen I rode off to a war camp in search of my father. They told me that anyone who'd been trained had been sent overseas to fight, and only soldiers were allowed to board the ships. So I enlisted. I trained hard for three months, and when they were satisfied with my ability, they sent me off. The trip itself took another month, but for me it passed quickly, knowing I would soon see my father.

As soon as we were docked I ran off in search of him. I asked around, and learned that General Jackson, my father, was here. He was fighting right now, in a small battle a few miles off. Before anyone could stop me I jumped on a horse and rode as fast as it would carry me. As I got closer, the sounds of battle reached my ears. Soon I could see men fighting in the distance. The green and blue banners of our army were clearly visible, but clearly losing the fight.

They were outnumbered two to one, but the man leading them was an incredible fighter, and he gave his men courage. The leader was a tall dark haired man. He had tan skin and a thin black beard, and he wore the armour of a general. My father. There were arrows protruding from his chest, and he was cut in dozens of places, but still he fought on. A large evil looking man with armour similar to my fathers swung his blade at him, and they disappeared into the crowd as they fought.

I paused a moment to steel myself, and then ran into battle, slashing my blade around wildly. I couldn't tell if I hit anyone, but I kept going until someone hit me. Pain burned across my chest, and I looked down to see a gash across it. A man kicked me and I fell down. He raised his sword to finish me, but sword stabbed through his back, and he dropped to the ground, dead.

My saviour stuck out his hand and helped me up. It was my father. I didn't say anything and neither did he, but I could see the look in his eyes, and I could tell he knew. He knew who I was, that I was his son, and that he was my father.

Our little reunion was ended by angry shouts as enemy reinforcements came charging towards us.

"Retreat!" ordered my father, and we turned and ran.

I looked back at the enemy, and saw that my father hadn't moved. He stood there, facing thirty blood thirsty men, and raised his sword. I tried to run back to him, but I was caught up in the crowd of soldiers, and they carried me away.

I watched as my father was stricken down, and then the large evil man he fought with before slit his throat. He laughed and looked towards the retreating soldiers. Our eyes met, and a fire of rage lit inside me. I wanted to run back there and kill them all, but I knew I would only kill myself, and that's not what my father had wanted. He had sacrificed himself so we could get away. I had gotten my father back, then that man had taken him away from me. And he was going to pay.

**End of Flashback**

I looked over at the wall. My father's sword was hung there, along with several medals he had won. I ran my hand across my chest, feeling the scar I had gotten on that day, and remembered. When we had gotten back to camp after the retreat, I was sent to the infirmary. They stitched me up and then sent me home, saying I was too young to fight. I was given my fathers belongings, and sailed home to my mother, where we lived on the farm since.

I took down my father's sword and swung it around. It felt perfect in my hand. I remembered seeing my father fighting with it, watching him die, and the hatred rekindled inside of me. That's when I heard the scream. My mother. Grabbing my father's sword I leapt onto Blackjack and kicked his sides. The horses shot out of the stables and we rode towards the house.

I saw thick black smoke rising into the air, and as we came to the top of a small hill, I saw why. The long dirt road that passed in front of the house was filled with people. Soldiers. And other people in chains and cages. Slaves. Several soldiers were carrying banners. They were a dark purple colour, with a black scythe in the middle, and I knew where I had seen it before. I had seen it when I went to find my father, when I went to war. It had been the same banner held by the men that killed my father.

I watched as three of the soldiers threw lanterns on the roof of my house. They shattered and lit, adding to the blaze.

Spurring Blackjack to run faster, I reached the house and ran inside, sword raised. I crashed through the front door and saw my mother on her knees, a knife to her throat.

**Alright so a few things added, like I said. I just thought that Percy immediately being a good fighter was a little unlikely, so this explains it better.**

**R&R please.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own PJO**

**Annabeth's POV**

A gladiator was cut down in front of me, and the crowd exploded into cheers. I didn't see how it was entertaining; watching people take each others lives. It was barbaric, and completely useless, but I was forced to watch it and was expected to enjoy it like the rest of the royal family. And by family, I mean my father.

My name is Annabeth Chase, I'm a princess.

My father is the king, and as the royal family, we are to attend all gladiatorial events in the colosseum. That's where we are now; in our respective thrones, perched on a balcony overlooking the arena. We had a perfect view, and it would be impossible to miss a second of the blood bath from our position. Unless of course you closed your eyes, like I did.

Not the whole time, but at the end, when the gladiator executes his opponent, I just can't watch. My father stands up and walks to the edge of the balcony, and all eyes are on him. He sticks out his hand, and the crowd falls silent. Then, like he always does, he points his thumb down, and the crowds cheers are renewed with extra ferocity.

The gladiators know what the signal means, and they bring their weapon down, finishing their subdued opponent.

That I couldn't watch. If a man died on his feet, fighting, that at least was fair. But killing a defenceless man was just, wrong, and I couldn't bring myself to see it.

The winning gladiator jogged from the arena, and the corpse was dragged out after him. As the gates opened and the next two fighters emerged, I wished I could just run away and hide. It was my fiancé, Luke.

Luke called himself a gladiator, and a damn good one by his own opinion. He believed that you weren't a real man until you had taken another's life, and he had done that many times. But that didn't mean he was any good at what he did. He hand picked all of his opponents, to ensure his victory, and he always picked the old, the weak, or the injured. They never stood a chance, but Luke murdered them all mercilessly.

Then why, you ask, am I engaged to such a disgusting creature? It's not my choice, but my fathers. Luke's family, the Castellans, have a LOT of money, and my father thinks that money makes a man perfect. So he arranged for us to be married. Our families will be joined and our wealth will be shared, making my father even more powerful.

I did not and do not agree with this at all, but my father thinks he knows best, so there's nothing I can do about it.

I watched as Luke walked into the arena to face his opponent; a small, skinny boy with a limp in his right leg. They fought, and before long the boy collapsed from exhaustion, and Luke held his sword to the boy's neck. He didn't wait for my fathers signal, but struck immediately, stabbing the boy in the arm. The boy cried out in agony, and Luke stabbed him again in the other arm. The boy cried out again, and I couldn't take it anymore.

"ENOUGH!" I screamed, getting up.

The crowd went silent and Luke stared up at me angrily. It was quiet except for the young boy's soft whimpers far below. Luke gave me a look of hatred, then his blade slashed across the boy's chest, and he was done.

No one cheered as Luke exited the arena.

"I'm sorry Annabeth," said my father, "I should have done that."

"Well you didn't," I said angrily, "someone had to."

I turned away from my father, and we spent the rest of the day in silence.

As the events in the colosseum drew to a close, we were escorted from the building and into our carriage by the royal guard. The carriage pulled away, and people on the streets started to bow down.

I hated that too; people shouldn't have to bow to me. Just because my father is the king doesn't make me any better than them.

Our carriage rattled down the cobblestone streets as we neared the town square, and I saw it was slightly more packed than usual. A group of soldiers held a chain strung with slaves. That explains it, I thought, and turned my attention back to the steady bumping of the carriage. Then something caught my eye. Something different.

Looking out of the carriage I noticed that everyone was bowing. Everyone except one. A slave. A boy of about seventeen, my age, was standing firm, refusing to kneel. He was quite handsome, with his black, windswept hair, and deep green eyes. Our eyes met and his widened slightly as he saw me, that made me smile. He smiled back briefly, but it was wiped off as a soldier slammed his heavy gauntlet into the boys back, forcing him down.

I cringed and looked away, not able to witness any more brutal violence today.

The carriage pulled up to our property and I ran towards the house. We had a huge property, and it took a good ten minuets to get to the house from the road.

A small river cut across my path, and I bounded over the bridge that spanned it, then continued to dash through fields and gardens, courtyards and more, until I finally came to the house.

The house was massive; huge oaken doors, tall stone towers, and a long gabled roof. The colossal structure was quite intimidating, but the bright white walls and beautiful flower beds gave it a serene and peaceful feel. It almost felt homey, except for the fact that the servants outnumbered my family members twenty to one, so I saw them more than I saw my father. That didn't bother me though, as long as I got to spend time with Thalia, my personal servant.

As I threw open the front doors and rushed to my bedroom I was greeted by an entire house filled with bows and "my lady's". It was aggravating. I couldn't stand it, and was glad when I got to my room and locked the door behind me.

As I barged in I startled Thalia, who was dusting a picture frame, and she dropped it.

"What the hell are you doing?" she yelled, "barging in like that. Scared me half to death you moron!"

"Excuse me?" I said, eyebrow raised.

Her eyes widened as she realized it was me.

"Oh! Your highness," she said, startled, as she half bowed half bent to pick up the glass, "I'm so sorry, I don't know what happened, I was just dusting and-"

I smiled as she babbled on worriedly.

"It's fine Thalia, dads still outside." I said.

Thalia immediately dropped the glass in her hands and stood up, giving me an exasperated look.

"Maybe you could've started with that?"

"Sorry Thals, next time." I said and sat down on my bed.

"Well I'm not cleaning this up," she said, kicking the pile of glass, "that's your problem."

I rolled my eyes. Thalia's supposed to be my maid/servant, but she doesn't really do any work. I had met her in the market a few years ago. Her family had been killed in a fire, and she was looking for work. I convinced my father to give her a job here, and I requested her as my personal servant, so I would have someone my age to talk to. Since then, we've become really good friends, and she refuses to clean for me anymore. That's just fine with me though.

"So," said Thalia, jumping onto my bed and sitting next to me, "another bad day?"

I nodded. We'd talked about the colosseum thousands of times, so she knew what it meant when I said I had a bad day.

"And Prince Dumb-Ass?" she asked, referring to Luke.

I smiled briefly at the name, but lost it when I remembered what happened today.

"He killed another slave. Just a kid this time." I said bitterly.

Thalia sighed and shook her head angrily.

"One of these days he's going to pick the wrong guy and get himself killed." she said fiercely. "I can't wait for that day."

I agreed wholeheartedly.

"Me too Thals, me too."

**Changing it up a bit, but it's all good. Just working out the kinks.**

**R&R.**


	3. Chapter 3

**The timing is a bit different between the two POV's right now, but it'll level out soon enough.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own PJO**

**Percy's POV**

"Mother!" I yelled running towards her.

"Stop him!" bellowed the man holding the knife to her neck, and two men stepped forward to intercept me.

One slashed his sword at me, but it was a clumsy strike, and I had been trained well. I stepped inside the swing and brought the hilt of my sword into the mans chin. The lights went out in his eyes and he crumpled to the floor. The second man levelled his spear at me and advanced slowly. He backed me up to a wall and jabbed the spear at my chest. I spun away and the spear lodged itself in the wall. I whirled around and slashed through the wooden shaft, splitting it in half. The man backed away and drew his sword. We fought around the room, but as we neared the fireplace I tripped on a log and went down, losing my sword. As I fell the soldier slashed out with his own sword, but he missed and struck the stone hearth. Vibrations shot up his arm and his sword clattered to the floor. Sticking a hand into the fireplace behind me I felt around blindly for a log. I grabbed a thick, solid log and brought it up hard against the mans temple. He teetered for a moment then fell to the floor unconscious. I picked up my sword and faced the man holding my mother.

"Let her go!" I shouted frantically.

The man laughed.

"Not a chance." he said, and clapped his hands twice.

More soldiers rushed in, and before I move I was hit over the head with a shield, and collapsed. My head was throbbing, and when I looked up, everything was blurry. The room was spinning, and I thought I could hear someone talking, but my ears were ringing, and it sounded like everyone in the room was yelling. I tried to put my hands to my head, but I couldn't move them. My vision cleared a bit, and I looked down. There were thick chains around my wrists, and I was being held down by three huge men.

"...was quite impressive, Sally. Your boy fights well; he's so much like his father." said the man with the knife.

"What do you want?" I asked, still slightly dazed.

"What do I want? Oh, nothing at all! I was just in the neighbourhood, thought I'd stop in," said the man cheerfully, "don't you remember me Percy? Your father and I were...old friends."

I tried to focus on the mans face, to see if I recognized him, but my head wasn't working quite right.

"Just let us go. We don't have anything to give you." I said.

"No no no Percy, I don't want anything. I've just been visiting the families of all the soldiers who fought against me in the war. To show them just what I thought of them."

Finally I got my thoughts straight, and I focused on the mans face. That's when it hit me.

"You! You killed him! You killed my father!" I roared.

The man laughed again.

"That's my boy Percy, I knew you'd remember." he said, walking behind my mother, but keeping the knife to her neck. "I just thought that General Jackson's family should get a, special, visit."

"Don't touch her! If you lay another finger on her I'll-"

I couldn't get the rest out. The man had slit my mother's throat. He let dropped her and she fell to the ground, her eyes clouding over. I opened my mouth, but couldn't speak. I looked back and forth between her, and the man with knife. I couldn't believe it. My mother, the most inncocent person in the world, dead. The only person in my life that mattered was gone, and I couldn't get my head around. I didn't believe it. I couldn't believe it. I absolutely refused to believe it. Hundreds of emotions were bubbling up inside me. Disbelief, sorrow, misery, hopelessness, despair. But all of these things were drowned out by the single one that consumed me. Complete and utter, rage filled, hatred.

My eyes started to water, and my blood boiled. My breath started to come in ragged huffs, and my vision burned red. I threw my mouth open wide, and screamed. It was a wordless scream. Pure hatred. Pure sorrow. It built up from somewhere deep inside me and burst out with such force it felt like it would shred my vocal chords. I howled as they hauled me from the burning house. Howled as they threw me into a cage. Howled as I watched my house collapse, knowing my mother's body was still inside. Eventually my roars turned into sobs, and I collapsed, welcoming the darkness that enveloped me.

It was early morning, and we had just reached the city of Atlantis. The soldiers had let me out of the cage a week ago, and ever since then I've been marching along with the rest of the slaves. We were all chained to each other in pairs, and then strung together in a long line. I was paired with a boy named Nico. He had told me that we were being taken to Atlantis to be sold, and then our new owners could do what they wanted with us. Nico and I had become pretty good friends, and I learned that he had been taken from his home too. He had also told me that this army's leader, Kronus, was the man who killed my parents.

That's what kept me going. I would've broken long ago if not for my need to kill him. I tried not to give any of the soldiers the satisfaction of seeing me in pain. Every time I was whipped or beaten, I took it without blinking, and glared back at them furiously. A few of them even steered cleared of me now, worried that if I got my hands on them, they'd never get up again. They were right too.

"How much longer do you think until we get there?" asked Nico sluggishly. "I need to sit down."

"Probably another twenty minutes." I said, just as tired as he was.

We'd been marching almost non stop for a week, and we were dead. The sooner we got to this place, the better. I don't care if we have to work all day, I'm used to that, as long as I can just lay down, and sleep.

"Wanna carry me the rest of the way?" asked Nico hopefully.

"Bite me," I said jokingly, "The day I carry you is the same day I-"

"Quit chyer yappin!" yelled a short, skinny soldier with an eyepatch. "Slaves ain't uhllowed to be talkin!"

He brought his whip down on my back, and the sharp barbs at the end ripped violently through my flesh. But I didn't make a sound. I grit my teeth and kept walking as he brought the whip down again and again. Finally I couldn't take it anymore, so I turned and fixed him with my best death glare.

"You thinks ya can scare me witchur freaky looks? I'll wipe dat off a yur face yet!"

He lashed out with the whip again, and this time it caught me in the ear. I winced, and put a hand to it as blood started to pour out. The small man cackled.

"You like dat? Have another!"

He went to whip me again, but I held up an arm to protect myself. The whip wrapped around my wrist, and I grabbed onto it. The soldiers eyes widened, and he pulled on the whip nervously, but I didn't let go.

"You let dat go now son, an I won't hurtcha."

I grabbed the whip with my other hand and started to pull it towards me. The soldier dug in his feet, but I dragged him closer. For some reason, the guy didn't let go either, and I got him within my reach. I stuck my hands out and clamped them around his neck. His eyes bulged from his head, and he beat at my arms and chest frantically. I started to shake him, and he thrashed wildly, trying to get out.

"Hey! Get off him!" shouted another soldier, and they rushed over.

They hammered away at me with clubs and shields, and finally the broke my grasp on the mans neck. He collapsed, blue in the face and gasping for air.

When the soldiers stopped attacking me, I stood up from the dust and kept on walking. We reached the edge of the city and were met by a new group of armed men. They looked like guards. They were taking slaves and giving them wooden swords, then getting them to fight with each other. Whenever a slave had decent fighting ability, they were taken by the new guards. I realized what was happening and tried to instruct Nico as best I could.

A guard came and took Nico away, and he fought with another slave. Nico had limited knowledge, but the guy he was fighting had none, so it made him look better than he was. The guards took Nico and chained him with the others they had taken. They led me over to another slave and handed me a wooden sword. I looked down at it, and dropped it.

"Pick it up you filth," said one of the soldiers, "or I'll guy ya."

Reluctantly I picked up the sword and fought the man. I beat him easily and was led over to the new string of slaves, where I was chained just behind Nico.

"Thanks for the tips Perce, no telling what'd happen if we stayed with Kronus."

"Yeah, don't mention it." I said dismissively, and waited for the rest of the slaves to be chained up.

When the guards were through picking slaves, one of them handed a large sack of gold to Kronus, and then they led us into the city.

As we passed through town, people laughed and threw things at us. A few people even came over and smacked me, but I resisted the urged to throttle them.

We came to what looked like the town square, and heard trumpets sounding. A horse drawn carriage was making its way toward us, and people were bowing down as it passed. The slaves around me copied them, but I didn't move. I wasn't going to kneel to some snob who thought they were better than me because of power or money.

The carriage rattled past, and I looked in through the parted curtains. I saw a girl staring back at me. She was beautiful, and I caught myself drooling over her pretty face. I couldn't tear y eyes away from her curly golden locks... That snapped me out of it. Curly golden locks? Who even says that? I shook my head and blinked a few times, then saw that the girl was still looking at me. My eyes widened and I blushed a little. She smiled, and I thought I could see her laughing. I smiled back briefly, but was struck from behind by something heavy, and it forced me to my kneel.

I looked up again, but the carriage had passed, and the girl was gone.

**Cool, so what do you think so far? Better?**

**R&R please and thanks.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I do not own PJO**

**Annabeth's POV**

"I think these ones capture the mood quite nicely." said Thalia, holding up an old bouquet of brown, wilted flowers.

I laughed, "I don't think my father will appreciate dead flowers Thalia. Come on, let's keep looking."

Thalia and I were at an elegant little flower shop in the richer part of town, trying to pick out flowers for my wedding. Of course, Thalia was no help at all when it came to flowers, and I'm no florist myself, so it wasn't going too well. The fact that as every second passed I got closer to my accursed wedding day didn't help either; it just filled me with dread.

The owner of the shop, a girl about my age with dark brown hair and warm brown eyes, came over to us.

"Excuse me, do you ladies need a hand?" she asked.

"That would be great." I said thankfully.

"Alright, I'm Katie by the way, I own, this." she said, waving a hand around the room.

"Nice to meet you Katie. I'm Annabeth, and this is Thalia, we're trying to pick out flowers for a wedding but we know nothing about them."

"Oh, a wedding!" she said excitedly. "Who's the lucky girl?"

Thalia and I look at each other and groaned. Ha, lucky girl, good one.

"Uh, I am." I said quietly.

"Well congratulations Annabeth, that's great. I just love weddings!" she was looking through flowers, and hadn't noticed our looks of unhappiness.

"Well I'll tell you Katie, if you find me the prettiest flowers in this whole store, I'll send you an invitation."

Katie dropped a planting pot and it shattered on the floor. She turned around slowly, eyes wide.

"You'd invite me to your wedding?"

I nodded. She smiled.

"Don't worry, I'll find the most beautiful flowers you've ever seen."

She ran off into the maze of flowers and started tearing through them, looking for the perfect ones. And when I say tearing, I don't mean violently throwing flowers around, because that's not how it was. She picked them up and snipped a few stems, smelled them, spun them around and put them back down again, and not once the entire time, did I see a petal fall off. Katie was incredibly gentle with the flowers, they even seemed to perk up a bit when she held them, but that was probably just my imagination.

"Maybe outside." I heard her mutter, and she sprinted out of the shop.

Thalia looked at me, eyebrow raised.

"You sure you want that at your wedding?"

I shoved her gently.

"Be nice, she's really sweet, and yes, I do want her at my wedding."

We followed Katie outside and saw her searching through hanging baskets and pots in the windows, still looking for those perfects flowers.

I looked up at the store. Above the doors was a bright yellow and green sign. I read it aloud.

"Gardner Florists."

"Yep, that's me." said Katie from behind me, "Katie Gardner, at your service."

I shared a look with Thalia. Gardner? And she has a flower shop? That's perfect.

"What are your full names?" asked Katie absent mindedly as she continued her search through the flowers.

"Thalia Grace."

"Annabeth Chase." I replied without thinking.

I groaned and turned to Katie, mentally slapping myself. She'd figure it out for sure now, I thought. But she was still going through the flowers.

"Grace and Chase? That's cool. Hey, that rhymes too." she muttered. "I think I've heard of Chase before. Something to do with..."

Katie trailed off and looked up at me. She fumbled with the basket she was holding but got it on the table before it could fall.

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry your highness. I didn't-I just-you-and the flowers-and, oh!" she babbled quickly, and bowed.

"Katie it's fine. Please, stand up, you don't have to bow." I said, frustrated.

She looked up at me uncertainly.

"I don't?"

"I don't want you to."

"Oh." she said simply, and stood. "So, I'm getting invited to a royal wedding?"

I nodded.

"Cool." she said happily. "But why don't you want me to bow?"

I explained to her how I hated it when people bowed, and how I wished everybody just wouldn't.

"Ok," she said, "now let's find you those flowers."

We started to look again and after a few minutes Katie stopped.

"Of course." she said to herself. "Come with me, I know just the right ones."

Me and Thalia followed her back inside, and to the back of the store. Katie disappeared through a door, and came back holding a beautiful bouquet of blue flowers.

"They're perfect!" I said, admiring the wonderful flowers.

"You like them? Good, I'll have them sent over then."

We went back to the front of the store and I paid Katie. The flowers were a good price, but I paid her more than double the actual price. She protested, but I was rich, and I didn't need it.

"Buy a nice dress for the wedding." I told her.

"I will bye Annabeth, Thalia."

She waved to us through the shop window as we walked away, and we waved back.

"Can we get something to eat now? I'm starving." whined Thalia.

"Soon, but I have to buy a new dress first. Trust me, it'll be quick. I don't want to be in there any more than you do." I assured her.

"I thought you already had your wedding dress?" she asked.

"I do, but this is for something else. My dad is throwing a big party to celebrate my betrothal; it's one of those masquerade type things. Do you want to come? I was thinking of inviting Katie too."

"I don't know Annabeth." Thalia groaned. "Don't you have enough dresses? Can't you use one of those?"

"Father told me to get a new one. I'll probably never even wear it again."

"At least tell me we're not going to that one place, the one that's all pink and smells like perfume?"

"Uh, yeah, we are?" I said hesitantly.

"No." she said firmly. "No way. I'm not going in there. You're on your own Annabeth, I'm out of here."

"Thalia! Get back here!" I called after her as she ran off. "Don't make me go in there alone!"

But she was already gone. Sighing, I kept walking to the dress shop.

I soon came to a huge pink building. It said 'Dress Shop' above the door. Real clever name, I thought, and went inside.

As soon as I opened the door a wall of sickly sweet perfume smacked me in the face. The whole store was filled with it, and it was almost impossible to breath. I pulled my shirt up over my face to try and block out the smell, but it didn't help. Choking on the near poisonous air, I stumbled through the store, looking for someone who worked there.

The building was huge, and pretty soon I was lost in the never ending maze of dresses. Giving up, I stopped and looked around.

"Hello?!" I shouted.

Immediately a girl popped out of a clothes rack behind me. She looked a few years older than me, but it might've just been the makeup, which was perfect. She had straight black hair and bright blue eyes, and a slim figure. Her clothes looked great on her, and when she smiled, her teeth were pure white. In other words, she was really pretty.

"Hi, I'm Silena, how can I help you?" she asked in a bubbly voice.

"I need a...need a dress...for a party..." I gasped as I gagged on the perfume filled air.

"Oh wonderful! Right this way!" she said excitedly and took off down the aisles of clothes.

I hurried after her, and just as I thought I'd lost her, we came to a dressing room.

"Try these on." she said, shoving about thirty dresses at me.

"When did you get..." I trailed off.

Silena ran away before I could finish. Probably to get more clothes for me to try on.

Stepping inside the dressing room, I looked down at the many dresses in my hands. Half of them were pink, so I dumped those ones right away. I tried the other ones on, but none of them seemed right. They looked nice, but they didn't feel right.

I heard a knock on the door.

"How's it going in there?" asked Silena.

"Fine, I guess." I said, unlocking the door.

Silena came in and looked me over.

"No, that won't do at all. One second honey. Girls!" she called, and for more pretty girls appeared. "We need a dress, let's go!"

The next hour passed in a blur. I tried on hundreds of different dresses and shoes, and I felt like a Barbie doll. I didn't like feeling like a Barbie doll.

"Stop!" yelled Silena, and everyone dropped what they were doing. "It's perfect."

I looked in the mirror in front of me. I was wearing a bright, silvery grey, strapless dress that sparkled in the light. It was a nice dress, but the best part was that I still looked like me. I didn't have any makeup on, no one had touched my hair, and I felt good, until I saw my feet.

"What are those?" I said, disgusted, as I pointed to the heels I was wearing.

"Oh come on, just try and walk in them Annabeth."

I took a wobbly step forward. I can do this, I thought, they're just shoes, I can do this. Taking another step forward, I got a little more confidence, and tried a few more steps. I got three feet before I tripped and did a face plant into a pile of dresses. The girls behind me laughed, but came to help me up.

"No heels." I said angrily, kicking them off. "I have shoes at home, I don't need any."

"Alright," said Silena, still chuckling softly, "let's go ring that up, shall we?"

I pulled off the dress and followed Silena to the front. She put the dress in a frilly pink bag, then I paid her and ran from the store. When I got out into the fresh air, I took several deep breaths, then noticed Thalia standing there watching me. She had a turkey leg in each hand.

"Hungry?" she asked, holding one out to me.

"Uh, no thanks."

"Suit yourself." she shrugged, and took a huge bite. "How was the shopping?" she asked teasingly.

"Bite me." I said sweetly, and headed for home, Thalia laughing loudly behind me.

**Little boring, but I wanted to introduce a few characters. There won't be too much with them, but you will see them again.**

**R&R.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Percy's first battle in the colosseum, different than before!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own PJO**

**Percy's POV**

I was thrown into a cold, damp cell, deep below the colosseum, and the thick, iron barred door was slammed behind me.

"Take it easy with the sword there pal," I heard Nico say to the guard, "I'm going."

Nico was kicked roughly into the cell next to me and the door was slammed shut.

"I could've just walked in!" yelled Nico angrily, but the guard ignored him and left.

He huffed and slumped to the floor, leaning against the clammy stone wall.

"Do they have to be so mean? Is it part of their job to push us around?"

"Just ignore them." I said, and lay back, closing my eyes.

"Well sorry if I'm not as emotionless and cold as you Percy. I have feelings." he said indignantly.

"Don't say that too loud. This isn't the kind of place you want people to know you have 'feelings'." I said, the looked over at him with an indignant look of my own. "And since when am I emotionless and cold?"

"Hey, forget I said anything," he said holding up his hands in surrender, "I just meant that not everyone has the same will power as you, and they think they'll survive longer if they just bow down and shut up."

That reminded me of earlier today in the square, when the carriage came by and I stayed standing. I wanted them to know that they couldn't control me that just because they had me in chains didn't mean I'd give them a thing.

But refusing to kneel had come with some perks too. There had been that girl in the carriage. She was beautiful, probably royalty too. A princess. Yeah, a princess for sure, I thought. I remembered my mom telling me to find a wife. If I married someone with a lot of money, we'd be set.

I shook my head and pushed the thought from my mind. My mother was dead, the farm was gone, and there's no way I'd ever marry a princess. Especially not now, I'm a slave for god's sake, I'll probably be dead within the week.

I heard noise coming from down the hall. It got closer, and then three people rounded corner. Two guards were struggling to hold onto their prisoner, who was bucking like a horse and flopping around like a fish out of water. He looked like he was about my age, but definitely not a slave. He had mousy brown hair that hung down over his mischievous blue eyes. His clothes weren't ripped and tattered, and he looked to clean to be a slave.

Another guard came over and hit the boy in the stomach with the butt of his spear. The boy bent over for a moment, but then came up laughing.

He gave the guard a wink and said, "I've been hit harder by my little sister, and she hasn't even been born yet!"

That got him the spear shaft across the face.

"Yeah, that was a bit harder than my sister." he said, rubbing his jaw.

They through him into the cell across from me and Nico.

"You're pretty tough with that spear aren't you? How about you put that down and fight me like a real man?" he taunted the guard.

The big guard with the spear dropped it and stepped into the cell after the boy.

"Aw, come to give me a hug?" he said in a babyish voice, holding his arms out.

The guard grunted angrily and ran at the boy, who sidestepped and stuck his foot out. He tripped and fell, and the boy looked surprised that he'd done anything at all, but he recovered quickly.

"Not so tough now are you? No no, don't get up, I'll run get your blanky." he said, darting for the door.

The guard grabbed his leg and pulled him back in, then punched him in the face. He slumped to the ground and linked a few times, dazed. They locked the door to his cell and left.

"That's right cupcakes, you keep on walking." he said, waving a fist after them.

When the guards were gone he made himself comfortable against the wall and looked over at me.

"Hey stranger, how's it going?" he said cheerfully.

"Uh, fine, I guess." I said, confused as to why he was so happy.

"I'm Travis, Travis Stoll. You've probably heard of me, but most people call me 'The Master of Thieves'." he said proudly.

"No one calls you 'The Master of Thieves' Stoll. Now shut up before I come over there and shut you up myself." said a guard keeping watch on us.

"They will soon enough Bill!" Travis called back, then winked at me. "Bill acts tough, but he's really a sweetheart."

"Stoll, I swear to god, one more word!" yelled the guard.

"Alright alright, shutting up."

Everyone was quiet for a few minutes, and then the guard left.

"You know him?" I asked.

"Oh sure, I mean, when you're in here four nights a week, you get to know people." he said, crossing his legs and putting his hands behind his head.

"Four nights a week?" I said, still confused.

"Yeah, I get into trouble, a lot. But it's no big deal; I'll be out in the morning."

"Then why are you down here? This is for slaves."

Travis laughed. "The locks in the cities jailhouse are too easy to pick; I kept breaking out. So they started sending me down here, where it's near impossible to get out."

"You can't pick the locks down here?" asked Nico.

"Of course I can! Master of Thieves, remember?" he said, pulling a long thin knife from his sleeve, and sticking it into the lock.

After a few seconds of jiggling there was a dull thunk, and the door swung open. Me and Nico's eyes widened, but Travis just closed the door again, and I heard it lock.

"Well if you can pick the lock, can't you break out of here too?" asked Nico.

Travis shook his head. "Too many guards. I won't get fifty feet down that hall before they catch me, and if they catch you out of your cell down here, they'll kill you."

"Oh." said Nico and I simultaneously.

Travis twirled the knife around his fingers and tapped his feet together quickly, eyes darting around the cell.

"So, what're you guys in for?" he asked.

"We're slaves." I said dejectedly.

"Oh." said Travis, "Well sorry, I guess."

We all fell into a slightly awkward silence, Travis obviously a little embarrassed that he hadn't realized we were slaves.

"So if you guys are slaves, does that mean you have to fight in the colosseum?" he asked.

We nodded.

"Well here," he said, sliding the knife over to us, "I guess any edge you can get in there'll help, so you can keep that. I've got a few more at home anyway."

"Thanks Travis." I said, picking up the knife, and after examining it for a minute, slipped it into my sleeve.

"I'm gonna get some sleep now," said Travis, "I've got a real awesome job planned for tomorrow. Night."

He closed his eyes and was snoring softly in a few minutes; I decided to do the same.

When I woke Travis was gone, and Nico, who had woken earlier, told me the guards let him out an hour ago. I rolled over and something pricked my arm. I looked beneath me but nothing was there, then I remembered the knife Travis had given me and took it out. It wasn't even a knife really, meaning it didn't have a blade. It was just over a foot long, and about as thick as one of my fingers. No, not a knife, more like a really big needle with a leather grip. None the less, it had a sharp point, and I was sure it would come in handy soon.

I expected a guard to come get us and take us to fight, but no one came all day, and soon I fell asleep again. In fact, nothing happened for a few days, but eventually, the uneventful days ended. I was woken by the heavy metal door creaking open, and a pair of guards dragging me out. Getting to my feet I saw that several other slaves were being taken, and Nico was one of them. We followed the guards down a maze of winding tunnels, where we finally emerged into a large room filled with weapons. There was a huge doorway on one wall, blocked by a sturdy metal gate. Sunlight shone through, illuminating the room, and the sounds of battle and cheering reached my ears.

The guards pushed me passed a table of helmets, and I snagged one quickly, sticking it on my head. Then they shoved a sword at me and pushed me towards the gate, where I waited with the other slaves. There were eight of us, including me and Nico, and some of them looked pretty tough. That would be good if they were on my team for this. Whatever this was, I still wasn't sure.

Guards turned large wooden wheels on either side of the gate, and the chains connected to them coiled around the wheels. As they turned, the gate rose, and we were directed through it. I walked out in front, and was greeted by boos from the crowd. Our little group walked to the center of the colosseum, and another gate started to open. Eight big, burly men in breastplates stepped out. They were all armed to the teeth, with swords and spears and knives and axes. Gladiators.

One of the gladiators stepped forward and raised his shield. The crowd applauded, but then after a moment fell silent. They were all looking in the same place. I followed there stares and found a balcony mounted high above the arena. There were several people on it, two in thrones, and the others standing. One of the people in the thrones shifted slightly, and I thought she looked familiar. I was sure I'd seen her curly blonde hair somewhere before, but I couldn't place it.

Before I could think on it further, a man to the left of the two thrones blew a loud horn, and the crowd exploded into cheers again as the gladiators sprinted toward us.

One threw his spear, and before any of us could react it impaled the man a few feet to my left. The others threw their spears too, but the other slaves ducked them and ran. I stooped and grabbed a fallen spear and then set off after them, not wanting to be left behind with the bloodthirsty gladiators.

The arena was big, and we could've run from them all day, but they were in better shape than us, and soon we had to turn and fight. As the gladiators closed the gap between us, I stabbed the spear into the closest ones thigh, and he toppled to the ground. Casting the spear aside I picked up the fallen gladiators shield and hit him over the head with it to make sure he wouldn't get up anytime soon. Checking back on my team mates I saw them not doing too well. They were all engaged in losing battles, clearly out matched by the opposing gladiators. The man Nico was fighting knocked him over, and as he raised his sword I remembered Travis' knife. Slipping it from my sleeve I threw it towards the man. It flashed through the air and stuck in the mans shoulder, causing him to drop his sword. Nico took advantage of this and attacked the man, and they whirled away as they resumed fighting, Nico now with the upper hand.

Surveying the battle again I saw that three of the other slaves had been killed, and one had a huge gash in his side that was pouring out blood quickly. The three gladiators that weren't fighting were toying with the wounded slave, and that pissed me off. With a roar I charged them, sword whirling around madly.

I tried not to kill any of them, but maim and or seriously injure? Sure, why not? As I engaged the three men, I aimed for arms and legs, and soon two of them were down, unable to stand. The third jumped on my back, but I turned as we fell and ended up on of him. He tried to get me with his hatchet, but I head butted as hard as I could, and with my metal helmet, that was pretty hard. His axe dropped and his eyes crossed, so I head butted him again and he was out.

Getting up off of the fallen man I saw that Nico had won against his gladiator, and there was only one left. The two other slaves had him at sword point, toying with him as he had toyed with them.

"Stop." I said firmly, and they looked at me like I was crazy.

"We won't kill an unarmed man. I'm not going to stoop to their level." I said angrily.

"Here," I said, picking up a sword and tossing it to the gladiator, "fight me like a man."

The two slaves backed away and the gladiator charged me. I parried his first strike easily, as well as the second and the third. He wasn't a very good swordsman, but I was. He put two hands on his sword and swung it like a bat. I ducked the attack and came up with a boot to his chest. He fell back and lost his sword, I held mine at his chest as he scrambled back. He stopped and closed his eyes. I stepped forwards and grabbed a fistful of his hair, then slammed the hilt of my sword between his eyes. His eyes opened for a moment, then closed as he fell back, motionless.

The crowd was silent, no doubt surprised that their gladiators had been defeated by slaves. Then they started to clap and cheer. I looked up at the stands of people and spun in a circle, watching as they all cheered. My eyes settled on the balcony, on the girl, and I realized where she was from. She was the princess I had seen in the square. The one in the carriage. She looked down at me intently, with interest and curiosity in her eyes. I did the only thing I could think to do, and waved. The princess looked surprised for a minute, then sort of half waved back. I took off my helmet and smiled. She was very far away, but it only seemed like a few feet, and I could easily see as she smiled back.

The gate we came in through started to open and I looked at it, running a hand through my messy black hair. Sweat stung my eyes as I walked towards it, and I pulled my shirt over my face to wipe it away. I took one last look at the balcony, at the princess, before I descended back into the darkness that was my prison.

**What do you think, so far so good?**

**R&R.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Hey guys, sorry this took so long, but I was away last weekend and I just got a job a few days ago. I also apologize if this one isn't very good, but a new one will be along shortly.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own PJO**

**Annabeth's POV**

The last few days had been really nice. I spent them hanging out around the city with Thalia, and we even got Katie to join us a few times. That's why when I woke up this morning I didn't want to get out of bed.

Today I had to spend all afternoon at the colosseum, and then Luke and his mother were coming over for dinner. Not exactly what you would call a fun filled day.

Dragging myself out of bed I cleaned up and headed downstairs. The servants had made breakfast, and my father was eating. I took my place at the table and ate, not saying anything to him as he didn't say anything to me. We finished and loaded into the carriage that carried us down to the colosseum.

As we passed through the square, I looked out my window, half-expecting to see the defiant boy with the black hair and green eyes. But of course he wasn't there, and I pulled away from the window.

The carriage rattled up to the colosseum and we got out, escorted by the royal guard as we made out way inside. Torches lined the walls, but the long hallway felt dark and cold and empty, the same feeling I got in my stomach every time I came here. For me, this colosseum was the worst place on earth.

We came to the balcony I sat on my throne, as my father walked to the rail and addressed the crowd.

"We have just received a brand new batch of opponents for our gladiators to face, and I for one can't wait to see some battles!" yelled my father and the crowed roared in agreement. "So without further ado, let the combat, commence!"

My father took his spot next to me and watched eagerly as the gates rattled open. I couldn't understand how anyone, especially my own father, could enjoy this brutal sport. And though I loved him dearly, sometimes I couldn't help but think he was just as bad as Luke.

Several events took place, each with even more bloodshed than the last, and finally, thankfully, there was only one more. Unfortunately, it promised to be the worst one so far. Eight trained and viscous gladiators against eight weak, underfed slaves. Not exactly what you would call fair, but apparently it was entertaining.

I watched the leaves pile into the arena. They were all fairly big and strong, except one boy, who couldn't be more than fifteen. There was another boy that was younger as well, maybe my age, but he held himself with poise and confidence. He wore a helmet, the only slave that had one, but from what I could see he had a grim yet determined expression on his face that made him look much older. It made him look like a man, a man who'd been to hell and back.

The small band of slaves gathered at the center of the arena, and another gate rumbled open, releasing the gladiators. One raised his shield, and the crowd applauded, then fell silent and looked our way. They were waiting for the horn to sound and start the fight.

The slaves looked our way too, confused, and I noticed the boy looking at me. He seemed familiar, but I hardly ever saw the slaves, other than when they were being killed, so I must've been imagining it.

The horn blew, and the gladiators charged; the fight was on. They threw their spears and killed one slave right off the bat. The slaves turned and ran, but the helmeted one stopped to grab a fallen spear before following. They only ran for a few moments before the gladiators caught up.

I found myself following the one boy the entire time. I watched as he thrust his spear into the lead gladiator's thigh, and then pushed him back into the others, causing them to stumble. He picked up the fallen gladiators shield and bashed him over the head with it, then looked around. Seeing the youngest of the slaves in trouble, he pulled a thin blade from his sleeve and sent it flying through the air, where it pierced a mans shoulder, giving the young boy time to attack.

The helmeted boy surveyed the battle again and saw that half of his fellow slaves were dead, and one was badly injured. Four gladiators formed a circle around the injured slave, and jabbed teasingly at him with their weapons. I could almost see steam fuming from the boys ears as his face turned red with anger. He charged the four men, his blade slicing through the air, and had them defeated in short time. I was shocked, and so was the crowd, but they cheered loudly for the boy as he helped finish off the rest of the gladiators.

He looked around at the crowd and then his eyes settled on me. His sword point lowered and he stuck it into the dirt, then took off his helmet and threw it down. A mop of messy black hair tumbled from the helmet and flapped around in the wind. His sea green eyes twinkled at me, and then he waved. I blinked, surprised, then gave him a half wave back. He smiled, then turned to leave the arena. Just before he disappeared through the gate, he looked back up at me again, still smiling stupidly.

"You enjoyed that, didn't you?" he asked, noticing my little smile. "I did as well, quite exciting. That was not the last we'll see of that boy, I can assure you."

The smile melted of my face, but I turned away so he couldn't see my look of disgust. He actually thought I liked that? That was horrible. I absolutely hate killing, but now that I thought of it, there hadn't been all that much. At least not that much considering there had been sixteen men fighting. Even when that boy had his enemies beaten, he didn't kill them. He even gave the last one a sword so they could fight properly. That's what real men should be like. In spite of myself, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't looking forward to seeing more of that boy too.

I sat in my room, brushing my hair for the hundredth time. I didn't usually fuss over my hair or clothes this much, but Luke and his mother were downstairs, and I'd do anything to stay away from them longer.

Setting the brush down, I straightened my dress, then stuck a little blue flower in my hair. It was the same as the ones for my wedding, Katie had given it to me a few days ago, so I could remember what they looked like.

The flower looked pretty in my hair, but I took it out, then stuck it back in and took it out and stuck it in again. I did this for another ten minutes, but ended up leaving it out when someone knocked on the door.

"Come in!" I called, and one of our many servants entered the room.

"My lady, dinner is about to be served. Your guests and your father are already seated." he said, bowing.

"Thank you Charles," I said getting up, "tell them I'll be down straight away."

Charles bowed once more, then exited the room. Sighing, I strolled out after him, not at all exited to be meeting with our guests.

I descended the long winding staircase, and as I opened the large doors to the dining room I saw Luke and his mother were seated at the table with my father. My father smiled warmly, but Luke stared at me distastefully with his icy blue eyes. His mother didn't even acknowledge me.

I sat down and said a quick hello to each of them, and the servants brought in the food. It was a wonderful meal, as it always is, but without much talk. Luke was silent the entire time, while his mother boasted about his victories in the colosseum. Whenever my father or lady Castellan asked me a question I answered as shortly as possible. My mind started to wander, and soon my thoughts were back to the raven haired boy from the colosseum. If been thinking about him all day; I was sure I'd seen him somewhere before, but I wasn't sure where.

My father said something to me, but I only caught the end of it.

"-that right Annabeth?" he asked, looking at me expectantly.

"What? I mean, pardon me?" I said, embarrassed.

"I was just telling them about the spectacular fight we saw today, and how much you enjoyed it." he said, smiling.

I wanted to throw up, but I put on a fake smile and said sweetly, "Oh, of course! It was splendid."

"And if you would believe it, the slaves actually won." said my father to our guests. "Eight perfect gladiators, gone."

"It's about time. Stupid gladiators." I mumbled to myself.

"What was that, dear?" asked Lady Castellan.

"Oh, nothing. I just said that...I had a great time. Superb gladiators." I said quickly, hoping no one had heard me.

Lady Castellan nodded, but Luke glared at me. I think he heard what I actually said.

"I've also heard that the majority of the fighting was done by one slave alone," said Lady Castellan, "How does a single slave take out eight highly trained gladiators?"

"That's what I find so intriguing," said my father, "I can't wait to try him in some of our other challenges. The sea battle should be an exciting one for tomorrow."

"That slave is a coward and a weakling. If he fought a real gladiator, a real man, he wouldn't stand a chance." said Luke scornfully.

I smiled at him, but my eyes were full of disgust.

"Then why don't you fight him?" I asked, "Prove to everyone what a real man YOU are."

Luke just glared at me, and everyone was silent for a few minutes.

"Uh, are you two excited for your betrothal party?" my father asked awkwardly, finally breaking the silence.

"Yeah, I'm exited." I said, glaring right back at Luke, and I can give some pretty scary looks when I want to.

Luke looked uneasy, and he turned away.

"Yeah, the ball, whatever." he mumbled, taking a big bite of meat so he didn't have to talk.

"Yes, it should be, well, a ball." said my father, chuckling softly, "Have you picked out your mask yet, Annabeth?"

"No, I was thinking of going with Thalia later in the week," I said, then remembered my other friend, "Is it all right if I invite a few people to the ball? There are a few friends I want there with me."

My father considered it for a moment, then nodded. "That should be fine, just don't invite any of the help," he said seriously, meaning Thalia, "This party is for the wealthy, it will not do to tarnish our good name by having the common folk present."

I resisted the urge to chuck my bun at his head. Who did he think he was? Tarnish our good name? The common folk? Sometimes my father was just as bad as the other snobby rich people, maybe even worse.

"Well, there are papers to sign," said my father, "you kids run along."

I had no wish to 'run along' anywhere with Luke, but I couldn't avoid him forever. We left the dining room walked into the grounds behind the house. We walked along a wide stone path, past flowers and trees and hedges trimmed to look like deer, and soon came to a small pond.

"So, do you uh, have your mask yet?" I asked him, just trying to make conversation.

"Yes, it's solid gold," he said proudly, "and covered in jewels. It's probably worth more than your whole party."

"Our party actually," I corrected him, just to be annoying, "and yes, I'm sure your fancy little mask gets you lots of attention."

"Excuse me?" he said angrily.

"Oh nothing," I said dismissively, "I only meant that of you can't impress people by being a terrible gladiator, having a rich mommy always works."

When we were at dinner, with our parents and all the servants around, I could make fun of Luke all I wanted. But out here, where we were all alone, it wasn't the best idea. I should've known that, but I guess I just carried away.

Luke took a step towards me and shoved me into a tree. I crashed into it, and he caught my shoulders in a vice like grip.

"Luke, let go. You're hurting me." I said, trying to push him away.

He ignored me.

"You're lucky we're not married yet," he said menacingly, "because the second I get your money, you might just have a little...accident."

"You wouldn't." I said, my voice quite from shock and pain.

"I would, and you know it. And don't bother trying to tell anyone about this, they know you don't want to get married, they'll just think it's another excuse. So in the mean time," he said, throwing me to the ground, "show some respect."

He walked away and left me there, thinking of what he had just told me. If I had heard him right, he was going to kill me as soon as we were married and he had my money. That meant that he'd get all of my money, and he'd still be the prince too. And he was right about no one believing me; I'd been complaining to my dad about the wedding since the day he told me. But the wedding wasn't for another few months, so I didn't have to worry about that right now. I decided not to worry about it too much right now, I'd tell Thalia about it later, but there was a chance Luke was just trying to scare me, so I wouldn't let it bother me for now.

I picked myself up off the ground, and headed for home.

**I'll try and get another chapter up soon, cuz this one wasn't the best :P**

**R&R.**


	7. Chapter 7

**This one might be a little short, but we'll see.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own PJO**

**Percy's POV**

It had been a few days since the fight, and Nico was still as difficult as ever.

"I'm telling you Nico, she waved back." I told him, for about the hundredth time.

"No way," he said, "a princess? Waving at you? If she was going to wave at anybody, it wouldn't of been you."

I raised an eyebrow.

"You think she might've been waving at you?"

"That seems more likely than your story." he said, shrugging.

"You were still faced down in the dirt, you didn't even see her. Besides, I've met her before."

Nico laughed in my face.

"When did you meet a princess? You haven't been out of this cell since we got here."

"Well, I guess I didn't actually meet her, but when we first got here she came through the square. She smiled at me."

Nico still didn't believe me, and he refused to listen to anything else I had to say, so I turned my back to him. He was just jealous. She had totally waved at me, and I bet she'd wave at me again the next time we were out there.

Despite the very possible threat of dying a painful death, I was kind of excited to get back out there. Not to fight of course, but seeing that princess again wouldn't be bad at all. That's why when the guards came in and the other slaves groaned, I let them lead me out easily.

There were ten of us, Nico being one of them, but none of them looked very strong or at all athletic. This could be a tough one, I thought, and we walked out into the arena. But the gate we came out of didn't let us out into the sandy arena floor, but thirty feet up the walls. The entire space was flooded, and two small sail boats were moored at either end. We climbed I to the one nearest us, and I saw the other one was full of gladiators. Again, they were all carrying dozens of weapons, while we only had a sword a piece. The ropes behind us were cut, and the boats started to drift together.

I took a quick look toward the balcony, where I saw my blonde haired princess, then surveyed the ship. It didn't look too sturdy, but it was still floating. The main mast, a tall, thick wooden pole, was splintered and cracked and looked like it might snap any second. I checked below deck, and found a few dusty rum bottles, a small barrel of oil for refilling lanterns, a few old wooden crates, and a little cabinet filled with bowls. Before I could make use of anything, the crowd cheered loudly outside, and a series of thuds sounded against the side of the boat.

Bounding back up the stairs I saw the gladiator's boat was only fifty feet from us, and half a dozen javelins were stuck in the hull of our ship. If they got any closer, they could pick us off easily with their other weapons, and this fight would be over before it even started. Formulating a plan quickly, I sprung into action.

"Nico! Starting sawing through the mast!" I yelled over the roar of the crowd.

"What?!"

"Cut through it!" I yelled again, "Like this!"

I swung my sword at the mast, and a chunk of wood fell away. Nico still looked confused, but did as I told him.

"You, come with me!" I said, grabbing another slave and pulling him below deck with me.

"Start filling these with oil," I said, and handed him the rum bottles, "bring them up when your done."

I left him to filling the bottles and ran back onto the deck. Nico was still hacking away at the mast. The gladiator's ship was getting closer, and Nico wouldn't make it all the way through in time, so I made a Quick decision, a scrambled up the ships rigging.

Nico stopped chopping. "Percy, what are you doing?"

"Keep chopping!" I yelled back, nearing the top of the mast.

Nico looked unsure, but kept going as I made it to the top. The other ship was twenty feet from us, and luckily, the mast I was on was about that same length. I rocked the mast back and forth, and it swayed with me. Back and forth, back and forth. It started to splinter, and with an ear splitting crack, it snapped, and it tipped towards the other ship, with me still on too of it.

It was at about forty five degree angle when I jumped off, and grabbed a rope hanging from the gladiator's mast. I swung around and saw the broken pole smash into our enemy's ship, opening a huge hole in the side, which water started to pour into.

A gladiator saw me hanging from the mast, and started to climb a rope next to me. I waited until he neared the top, then cut the rope, and sent him plummeting back to the deck, where he took out another gladiator.

There was a whistle from my boat, and I saw a slave waving to me, arms filled with rum bottles. I grabbed a longer rope and tried to swing across, but I didn't quite make it, and dropped into the water. When my head broke the surface, I heard a hot sounding, and looked around to see what was happening. The crowd was watching a gate half under water. It opened, and I saw long, muscled figures swim out. One raised its head and snapped its huge jaws. Crocodiles. I swam for the boat as fast as I could, but they seam faster, and one was on me before I was halfway there. It snapped at me, and I tried to jab at it as best I could with my sword, not an easy task in the water. The crocodile swam down, and I lost it in the murky water. I took that second to swim for the boat again, but I didn't get far. The croc shot back at me and latched it's jaws around my thigh. I yelled with pain and shock and dropped my sword; it disappeared into the dark water as the beast started to pull me under. It started to roll through the water, and I let out a breath of air. I was pulled deeper, and my lungs screamed for air. I tried to pry the crocs teeth off of my leg, but it was too strong.

Frantically, my hands fumbled around, searching for something, anything that could help me. Something brushed my hand, and I reached for it. A small lump on the crocs head. Another one close to it. Eyes. Finding them both I jabbed my thumbs into them as hard as I could, and it released my leg. I swam to the surface and gulped down air greedily.

There was a ship right next to me, and judging by the many javelins protruding from the hull, it was ours. I reached for one of the javelins, but it was just out of reach. I was about to look for another way up when my crocodile friend and back. It shot at my legs and by pure luck my feet connected with its nose. The force pushed me out of the water and I grabbed hold of two javelins, keeping my feet far away from the water and the croc, which snapped angrily at me.

Using the javelins as a makeshift ladder I climbed to the deck of the ship. The slaves were in a pretty good position; the only way across the two ships was the fallen mast, but it was impossible to make it across without completely exposing yourself. Every time a gladiator tried to come across, the slaves would jab at him with their swords as soon as he got within reach, and he'd have to turn back. But eventually they'd find a way across, and that meant it was time for phase two of my plan. Grabbing an oil filled rum bottle in each hand, I signalled the others to do the same. When every body had one, I threw mine, and the others did the same. They smashed into the gladiator's ship and over the gladiators themselves, drenching them in oil. I ran below deck and grabbed the little oil barrel, which was now empty. I opened the cabinet and pulled out a small bowl made of stone, then hurried back up.

The gladiators had recovered from their oily bath, and had resumed their efforts to cross the bridge, but the oil made it twice as hard. Satisfied that they were kept busy for the moment, I ripped my shirt off and mopped up the remaining oil from the barrel, then rapped it around a javelin stuck into the ship. I picked up a sword and hit the stone bowl against it, creating a spark. The spark caught on the oily rag, and lit it on fire. Grabbing the flaming javelin, I took aim, and threw it at the oil soaked ship that the gladiators were on.

The boat and gladiators lit up as the oil ignited, and they started to run around wildly. A few of the smarter ones jumped over board, but they actually weren't too smart, 'cause the crocs got them.

Water was still rushing I to the boat through the gaping hole made by our mast, and it started to sink. Soon it was completely under, and I turned away, not wanting to see the gladiators eaten by the crocodiles. The crowd cheered, and the water started to drain. Our boat touched the bottom, and then tipped over as the rest of the water drained, and we spilled out into the muddy soup that was the arena floor. I stood up, caked in mud, and winced as pain flared in my leg.

I looked up at the balcony, and saw that beautiful face, smiling down at me. Composing myself, I tried to forget about my leg, and gradually the pain subsided, until it was only a dull throb.

"Hey Nico," I said, nudging him, "check this out."

I waved to the princess, and she waved back. Nico's jaw dropped, and I laughed. I turned back to the princess, and my jaw dropped too. He raised a hand to her lips, and blew me a kiss. For a second I was stunned, but then I got my wits back and reached up to catch it. I made a big show of holding it to my chest and bowing politely. She covered her mouth, but I could see the laughter in her eyes as I turned to limp away.

"Look what I got." I said to Nico as we left the arena.

"I don't see anything Percy." he grumbled.

He was right, there was nothing in my empty hand, but he knew what I meant.

"Oh come on, you saw the whole thing. You're just jealous."

"I'm not jealous! I just kind of wish that happened to me, that's all." he said.

"Isn't that the definition of jealous?" asked a slave who was behind us.

"Oh shut up." growled Nico, and sped ahead of me, leaving me to my thoughts.

And what was I thinking about? I'll give you one guess. The princess? Correct! I had to find some way to meet her. If I could only talk to her for a few minutes, just see her up close for once, that would be perfect. And maybe it was wishful thinking, heck, it was completely implausible, but maybe if she liked me enough she could get me out of here. The only problem was, I'd never get the chance to see her. I was a slave, they'd never let me out, but little did I know, my luck was about to change.

**How will Percy's luck change? You'll find out soon enough. Probably a shortish chapter next, because I really want to get to the next Percy chapter, but there are a few little things I need to put in first. But who knows, maybe something exciting will happen.**

**R&R please and thanks.**


	8. Chapter 8

**The moment you've all been waiting for is coming up fast. Percy and Annabeth's first real meeting. Not this chapter, but the next one for sure. There may be some foreshadowing in this one...**

**Annabeth's POV**

"You blew him a kiss? Seriously?" asked Thalia, her eyes wide.

"Yeah, I guess I did." I answered quietly, turning a little red.

"Why? He's a gladiator, he kills people."

"He's a slave, not a gladiator, and I've never seen him kill anyone." I said defensively.

Thalia held up her hands. "Well sorry, but I didn't know that did I? And I still don't get why you blew him a kiss, you don't even know him!"

She was right of course; I didn't know him. I'd never met him, never spoke to him; I don't even know his name. He just seemed different.

I had remembered that he was the slave I saw in the square, the one who refused to bow down, and that made me want to meet him even more. There were most likely only a handful of people who didn't care for the whole idea of royalty, myself included, and Thalia was the only one I'd met so far. If only I could've met someone like that sooner, before I had been betrothed to Luke, I might be happy. The handsome slave from the colosseum is just the kind of guy I had been looking for, and maybe if he had come along a year ago, I wouldn't be marrying Luke.

I decided not to dwell on those sad thoughts; it would only bring me down. My betrothal party was in a few days, and since Thalia and Katie would be there, it might actually be fun. That reminded me; I still had to pick out my mask.

"Hey Thals? Weren't we going to pick out masks today?" I asked her.

"Oh yeah, we should probably go do that." she said, but didn't move.

I got up and nudged her.

"Let's go."

"Just give me another hour," she mumbled, "I need a nap."

Thalia closed her eyes and rolled over on my bed, but I pulled the blankets out form under her and she toppled to the floor.

"That's wasn't very nice." she said from the floor.

"If you don't hurry up I'll do it again, now come on." I said seriously, and headed out.

We took a carriage into town, and found a cozy little shop that sold masks. After looking around for a bit, I picked a beautiful owl mask with real feathers and a little beak that covered my nose. It would go perfectly with my dress. Thalia picked one with black and pink tiger stripes, which seemed a little strange, but it looked fine with her spiky black hair and electric blue eyes.

We paid for the masks, well I did; Thalia had no problem spending my money, but that was fine, 'cause I didn't either. We were just walking out of the store when a thought hit me.

"Oh shoot," I said, "we should've gotten Katie to come with us."

Thalia looked disappointed that we hadn't thought of it earlier.

"I hope she has a mask, maybe we should go ask her? If not, we could take her to find one." she suggested.

That was a good idea, so we headed over to the flower shop. We walked to the door, but ha to jump out of the way as someone flew threw it. The person landed on the ground and rolled over a few times, then sat up, grinning mischievously. His clothes were in tatters. They looked like someone had taken a pair of scissors to them. Katie appeared in the doorway shaking a pair of pruning sheers menacingly. Huh, sheers. How about that?

"And if you ever try to steal from me again, I'll cut off more than Just your clothes!" she yelled angrily.

The boy's carefree smile disappeared and he scrambled away quickly.

"Don't try to pretend you don't love my company Katie!" he shouted as he rounded a corner. "And don't worry, I'll be back soon!"

The boy was lost in the distance, so I turned back to Katie. She had lowered the sheers, and the angry scowl was replaced with a little smile.

"Hey guys! Sorry about that, but he needed to be taught a lesson." she said.

"So you tried to cut off his clothes?" asked Thalia, confused.

Katie rolled her eyes.

"Never mind, just come in." she said dismissively, and we followed her inside. "So what's up?"

"First I want to know what's up with mister cut up clothes. Who is he?" said Thalia.

Katie sighed. "I actually don't know his name, but he's been coming in every day for the past few weeks."

"So why is he running through town half naked?" asked Thalia, still not understanding anything.

"He comes in and we start talking," explained Katie, "he seemed really sweet at first, but then he tried to take my purse. Several times."

"Oh." we both said.

Katie picked up a flower and snipped a few branches.

"Yeah, I'm not sure why I don't just kick him out as soon as he comes in." she said, smiling affectionately.

I knew why.

"You like him, don't you?" I said, more a statement than a question.

"I do not!" she shouted, cheeks turning red.

"Of course you do, why else would you want to talk to him everyday?" asked Thalia.

"Oh my gods I do not like him. He tries to steal from me, everyday." Katie said seriously, but her face was still bright red. "Enough about that, tell me why you guys came by."

"We went to get masks for the party, but forgot to ask you to come. Do you already have a mask?" I said.

"Oh! Yes, I do! I'll show you it, it's perfect."

We followed her to the back of the store where he showed us a colourful mask made of flowers.

"Are those real?" Thalia asked.

"Mhm." answered Katie proudly. "Made it myself too."

"That's amazing. You're going to look great." I told her.

The three of us chatted for a little while, but soon Katie had customers and Thalia and I had to leave. We said good bye, and told her we'd pick her up the night of the party, then left.

As we strolled through town, I noticed a big group of people gathered around a little stand. Thalia and I walked closer, and saw that it was a puppet show.

"Then he climbed the mast, not an easy task, that mast was easily thirty feet tall." said the puppeteer, who was hidden behind a curtain.

I realized he was re-enacting the battle in the colosseum from a few days ago. There were two large ships on either side, and several puppets danced around on deck. One dark haired puppet climbed up the mast of the right ship, and it swayed back and forth.

"Then the mast snapped, and vaulted him over to the other ship!" he said, as the mast broke in half, and the little puppet tipped towards the other boat.

The rest of the battle was acted out perfectly, and Thalia and I started to enjoy it. This was much better than watching then events unfold in the colosseum. There wasn't any blood, and the little puppets looked hilarious.

The gladiators boat sunk, and everyone watching cheered. The slaves started to dance around on deck of their ship celebrating, which I don't think actually happened, but it looked really cool. Their boat sunk down too, and when it was out of sight everyone applauded.

"Wait! You still haven't seen the best part!" shouted the puppeteer cheerfully.

The little black haired puppet that was unmistakably the mysterious slave I was so interested in. He looked towards the too of the curtain, and started to wave. A little balcony popped out near the top of the curtain and there I was, in puppet form waving. The people around us laughed, and then my puppet raised a hand to its lips, and blew the other puppet a kiss. He caught it, then did a little happy dance and walked of the stage. The balcony disappeared, and then every puppet from the show popped up, all of the gladiators in bandages and crutches, and they took a bow. I clapped just as loudly as the people around me, that was great.

"Come back in a few days to watch everyone's favourite hero take on the Triathlon of Champions." he said, and everyone in the crowd whispered excitedly.

"Remember, it's a free show," said the man behind the curtain, and a big bucket extended out, "but if I can get a little money, the next show will be even better."

A few people in the crowd threw a coin or two in, but most of them were kids. They left, and Thalia and I walked over the bucket. It started to go back in, but I caught it, and filled it with gold coins.

"Thank you very much!" said the man happily, "you've just made a lot of people very happy."

Thalia started to walk away, but I wanted to see how he managed so many puppets all at once. I crept forward and pulled the curtain aside, revealing the puppeteer. He was a huge African American man, young, but probably a few years older than me. He had his hands in a pair of gloves that had little metal arms and strings attached. The man had a dozen puppets on each hand, and he had made a little assembly line with them. His fingers danced around quickly, and the puppets responded to his movements. They picked up the good coins from the bucket, passed it along the line until the last one dumped it into a little bag. The mans fingers continued to fly around, and they kind of looked like spiders. That made me shiver; I hate spiders.

Shutting the curtain, I caught up with Thalia and told her what I saw.

"Really, like spiders? That is weird, but awesome." she said. "And what did he say about that triathlon of champions thing? I've never herd of that before."

I wasn't exactly sure, but I think my father had made it up to single out the better gladiators. If you could get through it alive, you were entered into a tournament to choose the new champion, which happened once every two years.

I explained this to Thalia.

"So they have to do three challenged in a row? That sucks."

"Well not all in a row, they get a day in between to rest." I explained. "While they're taking the challenge, they're given medical supplies, like a needle and thread, so they can patch themselves up."

"Ok, that makes sense." said Thalia, nodding her head. "What are the challenges?"

"I don't know." I answered truthfully. "I've never actually seen one happen, but I guess I could ask my father."

"Don't bother, no sense making him think you're actually interested in it." said Thalia dismissively.

Honestly though, I was pretty interested in it. If the slave you blew kisses to was entered in some event that had a really good chance of getting him killed, wouldn't you be interested? I mean, I at least wanted to meet him, to talk to him, find out what he was like, but now I might not get the chance.

"Let's go," said Thalia, "I'm hungry."

So we went in search of some place to eat. And since I preferred something other than huge slabs of meat on a stick, it took a while. Eventually we found a place to eat, and then headed home.

The next few days were quite; I hit to stay home during my fathers trips to the colosseum, because he thought I needed more time to get ready for the party. He would always come home and tell me fantastic tales about the dark haired boys triumphs in the arena, so I decided to go with him the morning before the party.

My father was really excited about something, so finally I asked him what was going on.

"Oh Annabeth, I forgot, I haven't told you! Today we are starting the Triathlon of Champions, it will be so exciting!" he said, practically counting in his seat.

"Who's taking the challenge?" I asked, though I already had a pretty good idea.

"That one slave, the one who is so- Oh! There he is now!" said y father excitedly, pointing into the arena.

The boy walked out into the middle nothing but his breast plate and sword, and looked up at us. He still limped a little from the crocodile bite, but he seemed have it under control. I could see in his eyes that he was nervous, but he didn't show it. He had his head held high, and stood tall with a hard look on his face, waiting for instruction. I caught his eye, and gave him a reassuring smile. His expression stayed the same, but I thought I noticed his eyes soften a little, and for some reason that made my heart beat a little faster.

My father stood, and addressed the audience.

"My friends!" he called out. "Today is a very special day. One of our favourite warriors has agreed to take the most gruelling challenge. The Triathlon of Champions!"

The crowd cheered like crazy, an it was a few minutes before they calmed down.

"Yes, yes, I am as exited as you. And to throw in a little twist, I will tell you this. As it stands, this noble warrior is a slave. But should he complete the challenges successfully, he will be freed of his slavery, and will go on to compete in the tournament to crown our new champion!"

The crowd cheered again, and I looked down at the boy. His eyes were wide, filled with hope and thoughts of freedom.

"The rules are simple!" announced my father, and held up a red clothe bag. "This bag contains fifty different challenges, all of which are equally difficult and dangerous. We will randomly select three, and the rest, you will find out yourself."

I could see the people in the crowd, silent with anticipation, waiting for my father to say more. He beckoned me over, and then held out the bag.

"Care to do the honours?"

I reached my hand into bag, dug right down to the bottom, and pulled out a slip of paper. It was folded shut, so I handed it to my father. He opened it, and his face lit up like a child on Christmas.

"Wonderful. The first challenge is, The Ring of Lions!" said my father, barely containing his joy. "Your opponent will be the other man taking this challenge. Good luck to you both."

My father sat back down, and we watched as a gate opened and a much larger, and very much hairier man walked out. He had a helmet with long bull's horns jutting out the sides, but he didn't have any other armour on. He wasn't wearing any other clothes for that matter, just a small white loin cloth. A massive, double bladed axe was slung across his back, but he took it off and held it in front of him.

A horn sounded, and every gate leading into the arena opened. When they were fully open, lions started to bound out into the arena, charging straight for the two warriors. I thought that they would pounce and maul them, but the long chains around their necks stopped them short. The lions continued to pull at their chains, eager to get a piece of the two men, and their bodies created a crude ring.

The huge hairy man raised the axe over his head, and brought it down at his opponent who leapt back, out of the axes path, and straight into the waiting jaws of a hungry lion.

**Ok so if you've read this before the rewrite, you know what happens. It's a little different though. Who can guess what monster Percy's hairy opponent is modeled after?**

**R&R.**


	9. Chapter 9

**I am currently eating enchiladas, and I've been thinking about Grover the whole time!**

**And also, for anyone who guessed who Percy's opponent was, yes, it's the minotaur. Somebody said Ares :P and I'm thinking they should maybe read that part again...**

**Anyways, thanks for all the reviews guys, it really means a lot. Schools starting in a week, so the chapters might not be done as fast as usual, but if you need something to read, go check out my other story 'Just Friends'. It was my first story, but it's finished, so you can read it all the way through.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own PJO**

**Percy's POV**

The massive man swung his axe at me, and I jumped back instinctively. I dodged the axe, but landed too close to the lion behind me, and it attacked. If I hadn't been wearing the breastplate, the lion's claws would've shredded my back to pieces, but they glanced off the metal, and only knocked me to the ground. I fell on my face, and the lion pounced on my back.

I was starting to regret agreeing to this. But for the slim chance at freedom, it was worth it. That thought didn't last long though, as the lion sunk its teeth into my left arm. I cried out and stabbed blindly over my shoulder. The cat let go and snarled painfully, so I guess I hit something important. Scrambling out from under it I got to my feet and faced my opponent. From my experience in combat, larger usually meant slower, and I intended to use that to my advantage.

He swung the axe again, and I stepped calmly out of the way. My plan was to let him tire himself out, and then I could do my thing. It was going great until he backed me up to the edge of the ring. The lions were snapping at me, but I was just out of their reach. If I moved an inch either way except toward the bull horned man, they'd claw me to pieces.

He held the axe like a baseball bat, and got ready to knock me out of the park. His legs looked just wide enough for me to fit through, and when he started to swing, I dove through them. But as I dove, a lion caught my pant leg with its sharp claws, and I stumbled, crashing into the man. My head collided with his knee, and stars exploded in my eyes. Not sure what was above me, I swung my sword wildly, and felt it slice through something. There was an agonized roar, and the bull man hopped away, howling like a wounded animal.

I stood up and tried to clear my head, but it was throbbing, and I could already feel a huge bump rising beneath my hair. The man came at me again, and because I was still dizzy, tried to block his swing instead of dodging it. That was a mistake. The two weapons collided and vibrations shot up my arms. My sword was knocked out of my hands, and it spun away. Before I could react, the man grabbed me by the neck, and picked me up. I hammered at his hands, but he laughed and squeezed tighter. My breathing stopped, and my heart started race. Frantically, I lashed out at his face, trying to hit him in the eyes, but my hands bounced harmlessly off of his helmet. I started seeing black dots, and my head was spinning. My hands found the two bull horns on either side of his helmet, and I pulled as hard as I could. The helmet popped off, and I kicked him between the legs, in a very sensitive spot, with as much force as I could muster. The mans eyes crossed, and he dropped me. On the way down I spun the helmet around and stabbed the sharp horns into his chest. He stumbled backwards, tripped, and fell just within reach of the lions. They pulled him closer, and I turned away, not wanting to see a man eaten alive.

A few minutes later, the man was gone, and the lions were pulled back through the gates. I looked up to the balcony, but the king and princess were gone. A gate rattled open, and they walked over to me, flanked by guards.

"Well that certainly was something! Was it not?" yelled the king, and the crowd roared in approval.

"How do feel son?" asked the king, but I didn't hear him.

My attention was on the princess. I was smiling, despite what I just went through, and I couldn't take my eyes off her. Off her golden hair, and beautiful grey eyes. It might've been creepy, but she was looking back at me the same way, and I sure didn't mind. I could've stared at her all day, but one of the guards nudged me, and I was brought back to reality.

"I said, how are you feeling son?" repeated the king.

"Oh! Uh, never better," I laughed, although that was the exact opposite. "That guy wasn't so tough, but one of the lions got me."

I showed him the deep bite marks on my arm.

"Ooh, that does look painful. Not to worry though, you will be given all the necessary materials to patch yourself up." said the king excitedly.

"Can I go now?" I asked.

I was pretty sure I would start screaming in about five seconds, and I didn't want the princess to think I was weak.

"Ah, yes. But first, what is your name?"

"Um, Percy. Percy Jackson."

The king nodded, and addressed the crowd.

"I give you, Percy Jackson!" he roared, holding up my arm. "I'm sure you are all just as eager as I to see more from this lad."

He let me go, and the guards led me down a different route. We were going in the opposite direction of the slave cells, and soon we came to a small room with several thick wooden doors around the wall. They opened one, pushed me inside, and then locked it behind me.

My new cell wasn't that much better than the old one; it had a bared window that let in sunlight, a low wooden bench, a few boxes, and a big sewer grate in the corner. There was a pipe above the grate, which I guess made it a makeshift shower, which was really nice. I looked all around the room, but couldn't see any way to turn it on, so I decided to forget about it for now.

Opening the boxes, I found towels, bandages and sewing needles. The bite on my arm wasn't really bleeding, but it didn't look deep enough to sew shut, so I just wrapped it in a bandage and left it.

Using a couple towels as pillows, I lay down on the bench and closed my eyes. I was about to roll over when I remembered the knife Travis had given me, and took it from my sleeve. That probably would've come in handy during the fight; I really need to remember things like that.

Closing my eyes, I got some much needed sleep.

I was woken by the sound of rain splashing outside. It was pretty dark out, do I figured the sun was just going down. The rain started to pour down a little harder, and I heard something rattling above me. It got louder and louder, and then water started to pour from the pipe. I laughed, and stepped under it, letting the cold refreshing water wash away the dust and grime I'd accumulated over the past couple weeks.

When I was clean, I went to step off of the grate, and it clunked. Getting down closer I jiggled the grate, and found that it was loose. The bolts that held it in place were old, and the stone they were stuck into was crumbling. I grabbed Travis' knife and gouged at the stone until the bolts were all free. Talking hold of the grate, I lifted, and it came off. I placed it to the side, and before I could second guess myself, jumped into the hole.

My feet hit the bottom before my head was below ground. That was good; I could get out easily. I crouched down and made my way down the drainage tunnel. It was slippery, but the roof started to get higher, and I could stand up straight. I walked for what seemed like hours, but realistically was probably only a few minutes, and saw light up ahead of me. Picking up my pace, I hurried to the end of the tunnel. It opened into a small lake, where the rain water drained. Wading into the water, I swam to the shore and looked around. I was just outside the city, and the nearest buildings were close. Luckily, it was dark and raining, so no one was out as I snuck through the streets.

Every once in a while I'd try a door to see if I could get in somewhere. I was wet, cold, and starving, if I could break into one of these houses, I could dry off and find something to eat. It was difficult though; I found a few houses with unlocked doors, but I could here people inside, and it would be impossible to get in without being seen.

I came to the richer part of the city, and it seemed like no one was there. There were no lights coming from inside the buildings, and the carriages that were usually parked outside were gone. The house nearest to me, which also happened to be the largest, seemed like as good a place to start as any, so I went to try the door, but it was already open.

Taking a few cautious steps inside, I listened carefully, but couldn't hear anything. They must've forgotten to close it, I thought, and continued into the house.

I headed straight for the kitchen, a threw open the pantry.

"On my gods." I muttered, awestruck.

There was more food in this one pantry than I've ever seen in my entire life. Diving in, I stuffed my face, and was soon lying on the floor groaning, my stomach about to burst. I laid there for a long time, perfectly happy, and almost dozed ff, when the pantry door opened behind me, and someone walked in.

"Oh! Uh, sir, I'm so sorry, I didn't think anyone was home, I'm just here to uh...inspect your pantry!" babbled the person quickly.

He put his hands behind his back, and walked around the room, pretending to examine it.

"Yes, everything looks to be in order. A right old pantry if I ever saw one." he said in and English accent.

Wait, English accent? Did he have one a minute ago?

"I do believe everything is fine, I'll just be on my way then. Have a nice eveni... Percy?" the guy said, and I realized who it was.

"Travis?"

"It is you!" he said merrily, hauling me up and giving me a hug. "What are you doing here? How did you get out?"

I explained to him about the triathlon and the drainage pipes, and how I used his knife to break out.

"That's great! I knew that thing would come in handy." he said, clapping me on the back. "Now we can hang out all the time."

"Well, actually no." I said. "See, if I stay out here, they'll come looking for me, and probably kill me when they find me. But if I finish this triathlon thing, they'll let me go, and I'll be a free man."

Travis understood that, although he thought the idea of being a fugitive was pretty cool.

"So why are you here?" I asked. "I'm guessing you're not really a pantry inspector."

"Ha-ha, that was a good one wasn't it? There's a huge party going on tonight, and all the rich people are there. Places like this are easy pickings." he explained. "Plus, we'll need something nice to wear of we're going to this fancy party."

Travis gave me a mischievous smile.

"Wait, what? You want to go to that party? What if someone sees me, they'll know who I am!"

"Don't worry about it," he said, leading me through the house, "it's one of those mask wearing parties, so no one will see your face."

We came into a large bedroom, and Travis threw open a closet filled with clothes.

"And you won't want to miss this thing," he said, throwing some clothes at me, "a party for the princess? This'll be great."

"The princess?" I asked, suddenly very interested.

"Oh, that's right; you're the one with the crush on her. You're coming." he declared. "And we're gonna have a great time."

We rooted around in the closet some more, and found a couple masks to go with our fancy new clothes. They were all black, with little white accents all over. Travis said it made us look mysterious, but I didn't see it; they were just clothes after all.

Turned out there was even a carriage out back that we drive over to the party, so we didn't ruin are new clothes in the rain.

When we got to the party, which was in a huge cathedral a few minutes away, the door was blocked by guards. That didn't bother Travis though; he simply picked the lock on the back door, and we slipped inside.

Travis told me to meet him by the back door at midnight, and then he disappeared into the throng of people, as I went in search of those gorgeous grey eyes.

I looked around for a while, but couldn't find her anywhere, so I decided to get something to drink. There was a huge bowl of something red, and I dipped a glass in to taste it. It was pretty good, so I dipped my cup in again and again, draining each one in a single gulp.

"Someone's thirsty." I heard someone laugh behind me.

I turned and saw a girl in a nice silver dress, and an awesome owl mask. She had curly blonde hair, and amazing grey eyes. The princess.

I tried to say something, but my mouth was still full, and it spilt out all over me. The princess laughed even harder than before.

"Here," she said, grabbing a napkin and dabbing at my shirt. "That's better. Wouldn't want to ruin such a nice shirt; I know someone with one just like it. They aren't cheap."

The whole time she was talking, I didn't take my eyes off her. I still didn't. Even behind the mask, she was beautiful.

"I'm Annabeth," she said, and stuck out her hand to shake.

I took her hand and kissed it, and she let out a little surprised breathe.

"Pleased to make your acquaintance Annabeth." I said politely, and let her hand go.

"Am I in the presence of a gentlemen?" she asked, smiling. "And what do I call you?"

I took both of her hands an leaned in close.

"Let's dance," I whispered, "then maybe I'll tell you."

Maybe these clothes were making me mysterious, I thought. I led her over to where people were dancing and took her waist in one hand, and her hand in the other. We swayed back and forth, it was a slow song, and I concentrated on not stepping on her feet. I'd never really danced before, but Travis had given me a little instruction on the way over, so I was doing ok. Apparently he was the 'dance king', but this was coming from the guy who called himself the master of thieves, so I wasn't so sure. I'd have to find him so he could show me his moves.

"So? What do I call you?" she asked, but I pretended not to hear her.

"This is a really nice party, and it's all for you?" I asked, dodging her first question.

She groaned.

"Yes. My betrothal party." she said, and she didn't sound at all happy. "There's my fiancé." she said, nodding towards a man across the room.

"You don't sound too happy." I noted.

"I'm not. I don't want to marry him; my father just thinks it's a good idea because his family is rich."

"Why do you need more money? Aren't you royalty already?" I asked.

She shrugged. "I don't know. If it were my decision, there would be no royalty; I think the whole idea is stupid. I should have to get a job like everyone else."

We danced in silence for a few minutes.

"What do you do?" she asked me.

I'm a slave, I thought. I don't have a job. But I couldn't tell her that, if she new I was a slave, she wouldn't want to talk to me. Heck, she'd probably call the royal guard and have me locked up.

"I uh, work in the colosseum." I replied, which wasn't a total lie.

"Oh." she said quietly, her eyes dropping to the floor. "And how do you like it there?"

"It's terrible. I can't stand all the killing, how brutal it is. But I don't really have any other choice."

Annabeth's eyes got the happy sparkle they had before, and she smiled again.

The song ended, and we stopped dancing.

"So, my mysterious friend, what is your name?" she asked, crossing her arms.

"I don't know if I should say." I said uncertainly.

I had told her and her father my name just this morning, and if I told her now, she'd know I was a slave.

"No, you're going to tell me. I demand you tell me." she said in her best princess's voice.

"Annabeth, I don't think it's a good-" I started, but she reached up and tore my mask away.

For a moment, she examined my face, then her eyes narrowed for a second. Then they widened, and she gasped. I readied myself for her to freak out, slap me, or call security, whichever came first.

**Again, sorry this took so much longer than the other chapters, but that's how it's gonna be from now on. I have football practice after school every day, and the work until 9 a couple nights a week, so it'll be a while between updates. Sorry :P**

**But please, R&R this chapter, and maybe it'll make me write faster. Motivation, right?**


	10. Chapter 10

So sorry this isnt a real chapter, but i thought id let you guys know that thise story is on hiatus. I wont be making new chapters anytime soon, im way too busy. I have half of one written, so theres a chance i could finish that one and post it, but im not promising anything.


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